Poem: The Power of Being Humane
The United States of America has surrendered
all claims to moral superiority.
We’re the world’s largest exporter of state-sponsored terrorism and international perfidy.
We operate one-thousand overseas military
bases in places
that, best case scenario,
put up with our presence begrudgingly, sullenly,
involuntarily hosting the bellicose bully with a B-2 bomber,
the abusive uncle who shows up uninvited then stays too long and brays too loud.
Of course we torture. Of course we do. There’s only so much remote-controlled drone killing
an Agency can take
before it craves some hands-on fun.
Over time, war crimes fade to mere mistakes
and the hate we vented on vanquished antagonists
gets repackaged as heroism by charlatans and fakes.
Power is not a children’s toy.
It’s the lover’s climax for those who cannot love.
Power is the invisible weapon
hoarded by pigs in finely tailored suits
who rob our children from the cradle to feed the dogs of war.
When will we raise our collective voice and say “no more”?
A well-lived life involves adding one little letter, one small “e,”
to human.
It’s so simple a child could do it,
if he weren’t conditioned to hate the other,
if he weren’t trained to kill his brother.
Lets’ not live our lives in vain.
We humans exalt ourselves when we become humane.